A compilation of news articles about charter schools which have been charged with, or are highly suspected of, tampering with admissions, grades, attendance and testing; misuse of funds and embezzlement; engaging in nepotism and conflicts of interest; engaging in complicated and shady real estate deals; and/or have been engaging in other questionable, unethical, borderline-legal, or illegal activities. This is also a record of charter school instability and other unsavory tidbits.

American Indian Model charter schools

OAKLAND -- The governing board for Oakland's
American Indian Model Schools -- which boast some of the highest test scores in
California --
has been put on notice: If they don't make swift changes to the way the
organization is run, it could be shut down.

A
1,080-page document from the Oakland
school district cites numerous violations, from financial fraud and financial
conflicts of interest to nonexistent board oversight. It gives the organization
60 days to remedy the problems and provide a written response or have all three
charters pulled.

The
violations -- and much, if not all, of the evidence -- compiled in the thick
document stem from a report published in June by the state's Fiscal Crisis
& Management Assistance Team. The inquiry was prompted by whistle-blower
complaints from former employees.

Investigators
found that founder and director Ben Chavis, his wife, Marsha Amador, and their
numerous real estate and consulting businesses received about $3.8 million in
public funds between mid-2007 and the end of 2011. And the organization's
governing board, which is responsible for ensuring the proper use of public
money, did nothing to prevent it from happening, the report concluded.

For a time,
Chavis, himself, served on the board while he was employed as the
organization's director -- and while his company leased buildings to the
schools and his wife handled the books.

"There
was no indication that the AIMS Board took any steps to account for the
founder's financial interests in the agreements it approved, or was even aware
that such agreements were illegal," said the notice from Oakland Unified...

Questions about the finances of an Oakland charter school and staunch opposition from education and minority groups may have derailed the confirmations of two State Board of Education members, according to interviews and public documents.

Neither of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s board appointees – Jorge Lopez, executive director of the Oakland Charter Academy, and Rae Belisle, CEO of EdVoice, an education advocacy firm – will get approved to serve another term, despite working on the state board since last March.

Lopez resigned from the board on Feb. 12, citing a need to attend to family matters. The move was puzzling because two days earlier, Lopez had turned over new economic disclosure documents to the board – an action that was only necessary if he intended to stay on the job…

Lopez has received wide acclaim for the consistent high test scores at the Oakland Charter Academy, which consists of a high school and a middle school. But he has faced criticism regarding some of his methods in dealing with children at his schools.

And, Belisle said, Lopez had grown concerned with questions he received from the Senate over his economic disclosure form. The questions, Belisle said, stemmed from an error Lopez told her he made in filling out his forms. Although Lopez thought he had addressed the concerns, the questions persisted, rising to the level of "silliness," Belisle said.

The scrutiny caused Lopez to worry that remaining on the board would put his school in political cross hairs, she said. "It was like it had become a witch hunt," Belisle said.

Lopez has not been accused of doing anything illegal or improper. Under current law, charter school administrators don't have to say whether they have any financial ties to their schools. But Lopez was required to disclose his income and assets upon accepting the state board job last March.

Those economic documents, along with Secretary of State business filings and other charter school records, show an interlocking series of business arrangements involving Lopez, his schools and a close associate, Ben Chavis of Oakland.

In 2007, for example, both Lopez's school, Oakland Charter High, and Chavis' school, American Indian Public Charter School II, were approved by the Oakland school district to operate at 3800 Mountain Blvd.

But neither went to Mountain Boulevard. Instead, both schools moved to an office building at 171 12th St., which was recently purchased for $7.4 million by Lumbee Properties LLC, a company founded and managed by Chavis. Shortly thereafter, Lopez started a property management firm, called Sun Management Group.

By 2009, Lopez would report personally collecting between $10,000 to $100,000 in rent annually for holding a 13-year lease on the 171 12th St. property. It's unclear why Lopez reported collecting rent on property owned by Chavis. Sun Management received another $10,000 to $100,000 from American Indian Public Charter School II, Chavis' school located at the 171 12th St. property.

2 comments:

The American Indian Model group is attempting to start a charter school in Tucson, AZ. If you have the time, it is worthwhile to listed to the discussion about this proposed school during the 1/23/2012 meeting of the Arizona State Board for Charter Schools.

Janna Day made the following motion: Based upon a review of the contents of the portfolio provided for this applicant and the information provided by the representatives of the applicant during consideration, and given it is within the sole discretion of the Board to approve or deny a charter, I move to reject the application and deny the request for a charter of American Indian Model Schools to establish a charter school for the reason that the applicant is not sufficiently qualified to operate a charter school due to the financial and operational performance of the applicant in operating other charter schools. [This would be the three OUSD-approved American Indian Public Charter Schools in Oakland]

FCMAT is investigating the entire American Indian Model Schools management. Details of the concerns are listed on pg. 52 of the pdf of OUSD OCS's denial report linked in the 4/4 agenda @http://ousd.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx

The 3/28 letter from a FCMAT Fiscal Intervention Specialist (pdf, pg. 53) says the completion of a draft report on the investigation is expected by 4/30.

As one observer tweeted, "U.S. media have focused too much on the Islamic nature of the Gulen movement. Real concern is its shady dealings and improprieties."

Please be aware that Gulenists have created a large number of anonymously-operated damage control websites. They started to appear a few months after publication of Greg Toppo's article in USA Today (August 2010).

"...minimal regulation and minimal oversight."

“But charters have now become a stand-in for vouchers because they accomplish the same goal of getting the government out of public education and turning public dollars over to private control with minimal regulation and minimal oversight.”

Pleas for charter school oversight

…The president of one influential charter group told the House Education and Labor Committee that the federal government had spent $2 billion since the mid-1990s to finance new charter schools but less than $2 million, about one-tenth of 1 percent, to ensure that they were held to high standards.

“It’s as if the federal government had spent billions for new highway construction, but nothing to put up guardrails along the sides of those highways,” said Greg Richmond, president of the National Association of Charter School Authorizers…

A leading school-choice supporter says the sweeping changes proposed by House Republicans would weaken oversight of charter schools severely and threaten to turn Ohio into a "laughingstock of the nation's charter-school programs.

"It's hard for me to say that," said Terry Ryan, vice president of Ohio programs and policy for the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, which sponsors seven charter schools in the state, including two in Columbus...

"The idea of regulating charter schools makes no sense because deregulation is the justification for the policy." -- Jim M., retired teacher

------

Perhaps it's finally dawning on some charter school supporters that the whole business is a huge can of worms.

Debt, misuse of funds, embezzlement & closure

Charters schools that are closed for fiscal problems and debt rarely repay their districts, also leaving vendors and staff members unpaid. Charter school funds that are misused or stolen are rarely recovered.*

And in New Jersey...

"New Jersey’s charter school law is alone in allowing the State’s Department of Education to authorize an unlimited number of new charter schools, regardless of the wishes of the host communities, while expecting those communities to pay for the operations of the charter schools out of their existing public school budgets." --- Julia Sass Rubin

Message to readers

With the systematic privatization of public education being conducted via the rapid expansion of charter schools, I regularly receive messages from teachers and parents who have charter school horror stories they want to share, and/or are in need of advice about a charter school situation in their community (e.g., "The charter school I attended has been closed. Do you know how I can get a copy of my transcript?). I also hear from journalists who are seeking information.

Just so you know, this site is a one-woman volunteer operation. Sorry folks, I'm DEFINITELY NOT union-sponsored.

Welcome

Charter School Scandals (CSS) was launched on May 14, 2010 to provide the public with a source of independently collected information about U.S. charter schools.

For instance, compare what you learn from my entry for the 3,500 student CATO School of Reason to the information provided by the pro-charter Center for Education Reform in their compilation: "Closed Charter Schools by State: National Data 2009" (63 page pdf). In the CER's document, the closure reason is "Management" explained as "Inadequate record keeping, suspect relations with private and sectarian schools," but the true story is much bigger and dirtier than that.

CSS is a non-billionaire funded (and un-bought off!), non-union affiliated (!), one-person operation in the name of transparency and public service to our democracy. I post the information as quickly as I can, but have a massive backlog due to the sheer number of stories. Please check back periodically for new additions.

And as you scroll through these stories, be sure to keep a running tally of the estimated legal costs.

Gulen Movement MUST READS!

Under the radar of the American public, the Gulen movement has been quietly advancing its presence in the U.S. via the establishment of charter schools, "cultural centers", and "interfaith dialogue" centers. Politicians, reporters, academics, community leaders, and charter school families have been strategically targeted, influenced, and given gifts, as the Gulenists have steadily built up their political cover. But how many of these Americans have an understanding of the controversies which surround this secretive movement and its worldwide political ambitions? And how would the public respond to finding out that such a movement is opening more and more charter schools, supported by their tax dollars as part of the GM's primary global project, without being willing to admit the connection?

World's top public intellectual? Not.

Examine the nature of their U.S. activities, and you will see that the Gulen movement is addicted to propaganda. As an example of their tactics, read how Gulen's followers propelled him to the top of a poll in "How Gulen triumphed."Prospect, 7/26/2008.

“Gülen’s crushing win tells us little about what the world thinks about its intellectuals; it merely exhibits the organisational ability of one movement’s followers.”

On faux ‘privatization’

"Private actors who simply take state services over by profiting off of taxpayer money are no different than the government, after all, they’re just for-profit government." -- E.D. Kain

Calling all whistleblowers!

If you are a concerned citizen with information about a yet-to-be-revealed charter school scandal, please consider writing to me at perimeterprimate@yahoo.com. Your name will be kept confidential.

USEFUL SEARCH TIPS

• For Google - Enclose your search item in quotations, such as "John Doe." If searching for two connected items, use a + sign between them.• With Web pages or documents - Simultaneously press ctrl + f and an interactive search box will appear.

Bad apples, tips of icebergs, and cans of worms

In 2000, the Center for Education Reform wrote: "A few bad apples shouldn't sour the public on the promising charter school movement, but when a bad apple does turn up, critics of charter schools pounce on it. Charter opponents are quick to claim that "more than a few" schools have closed and even quicker to characterize the movement as one that invites unscrupulous, fly-by-night operators to set up shop.Those mean ol' charter opponents. Isn't it curious how the reformers don't have any problem at all with building up a few negative public school stories into an anti-public teacher-bashing movement of national proportions in order to destroy teacher unions and public schools as a whole?"

- Philadelphia City Controller Alan Butkovitz (April 2010): "The fact that there were significant issues at 13 out of 13 [schools] raises the likelihood you would see many of these same issues found in a much larger sampling of the schools.By May 2010, his probe had widened to 18 charter schools."

Relationships terminated

Charter school promoters live in an abstract world where it's perfectly fine to shutter a school when the "need" arises. This reveals a profound detachment and utter disregard for the emotional lives of the children and families who, as a result, end up being subjected to tremendous disruption, stress, termination of meaningful relationships, loss and grief. Kids need security and dependability.

A school going "out of business" takes a very different emotional toll on families and children than when their local gas station or Denny's restaurant does.

-----"It comes down to what ultimately is in the best public interest here -- supporting the growth of charters or not. Does that support ultimately weaken the rest of the school district? You bet it does." (Fred LeBrun, Albany, NY)

Observations

There is no doubt but that an increasing number of inspectors, auditors, investigators, prosecutors and court rooms (and a lot of time and money) will be needed as more state charter caps are lifted.

Part of the problem is that too many people running charter schools see them as their own little fiefdoms. After all the effort and money put into setting up their schools -- and with political leaders and the mainstream media shining their bright spotlights on charter schools -- the stakes are inordinately high for them to be able to show "success."

Another problem I've discovered by doing this research is that the unmonitored access to millions of public education dollars is drawing unscrupulous people into the "business." At other times, new-found access to funds is proving to be too tempting for some people who were perhaps less criminally-minded.

Additionally, I've now discovered that, in this era of high-stakes testing, the education security business is booming. As one company put it, "Cheating on tests isn't the exception anymore; it has almost become the rule."

On competition

Two main ideas inform the charter school movement. The first is that competition is an essential ingredient in school improvement. Charters are said to provide that.

The trouble with this argument is that competition doesn't select the best, only the most popular. McDonald's doesn't produce the best-tasting or most-nutritious food, for instance, but its heart attack specials certainly are popular. A second-rate school might prove similarly competitive if it provides a tawdry but reassuring education to the children of the low-information crowd. Fearful your kids will discover you are an ignoramus? Send them to Alpha Charter where they will never learn to doubt.

What is a "scandal"?

The American Heritage Dictionary defines it as the following:

1. A publicized incident that brings about disgrace or offends the moral sensibilities of society.2. A person, thing, or circumstance that causes or ought to cause disgrace or outrage.3. Damage to reputation or character caused by public disclosure of immoral or grossly improper behavior; disgrace.

Dedication

This Web site is dedicated to Eli Broad, Bill Gates, the Walton family, Arne Duncan, Whitney Tilson, Joe Williams, Reed Hastings, Ted Mitchell, Jack O'Connell, Tom Vander Ark, George Miller, Joanne Weiss, Randy Ward, Arnold Swarzenegger, all Milton Friedman-lovers, and any other free-market, pro-school choice, minimally-regulate-what-goes-on-in-charter school supporters who are also proud self-stated "DISRUPTORS" of public school communities, who have almost never, EVER been part of a public school community or local neighborhood, or who rejected being part of any public school community or local neighborhood long, long ago -- but have ended up deciding to help tear apart the tapestry of basic local human connections anyway.

Visitors

A variety of people have been looking at my blog, probably because of the great Gulen charter school information I've posted. This site is regularly visited by readers from Turkey. I get periodic visits from dhs.gov, doj.gov and ed.gov. I've had visits from house.gov and ed.gov, and at least one visit from someone at eop.gov (? Executive Office of the President). I've had a few visits from a couple of mystery IPs that are supposedly associated with the State Department, specifically the CIA. Hmmmmm...